The Grateful Dead were always amazing in all the various formations. A band on another level. Garcia was an energy tuner something on a higher level of awareness.

I have to say that none of the full time keyboardists really ever did it for me - Bruce, as people have pointed out, was only a frequent guest.

Keith was really only brilliant at slower tempos. Up tempo all the keyboardists by and large just used cheap honky-tonk tricks to get the crowd going. Vince clearly played some sets almost comatose with depression - these aren't the concerts that get a lot of play, but when he was bad you could hear Jerry's annoyance in his short and disgusted guitar solos - Jerry never hid an emotion.

As to Brent Mydland: I'm sorry to say that I never felt his vibe ever really worked with the Dead. My jaw clenches every time he sings "you don't mean shit to me," which is every time they played LRR. That's not the kind of wit and wisdom we expect from the Dead. And the Brent original songs just creep me out.

I get that Brent brought a far better level of play on the keyboard than any previous keyboardist but I felt that Bob's rhythm guitar got shunted to the side. I love those bursts of delicate and challenging chords and I find it hard to hear after Brent showed up - there are long periods where he appears to be not playing at all or chiming in every once in a while.

Jeff Chimeneti with Dead and Co. is the best keyboardist playing these timeless songs. A little professionalism like, duh, advertising for a qualified keyboardist and they could have had someone with the level of creativity that the rest of the band showed.

Bruce was never a "member" of the band and he didn't want to be one. he said he was honored that they asked him to help out Vince and show him the ropes. he sat in from time to time as a guest but never wanted to be in the band.
Fultronic, this is not Bruce's first time playing with them, he sat in on numerous occasions before.
As far as Vince's "casio" sound, it was horrible and so was his singing.
the band should never have hired anyone full time after Brent, they had tour dates lined up that they had to honor.
should have spent more time after that to pick someone else.

- Bruce Hornsby's first show as a member of the band
- final Gimme Some Lovin', and the only version performed without Brent

It was actually Jerry who insisted Vince play a lot of synth as he wanted the B3 sound that Brent could bring so well retired. Not sure why he felt that way but it is well documented. Had Vince been allowed to wail on a B3 the whole view of his tenure may be held in a different light.

Highlights: The Weight

The sound of Vince's "Casio Rig" has always disappointed me, and Bruce's grand piano here accentuates it. If that wasn't Vince's call, whose was it? And why?

Sandman retracts his insensitive statement he heartlessly posted below. I don't know the full story of Vince but have been doing some research on the man, because, for some wonderful reason, this band will always be the soundtrack of my life. Long live the Dead! peace and love be with you all! Lesson learned. Now I've got some '94 to listen to.

Vince's "casio" rig and his sounds were not of his own choosing. Don't hate on someone you haven't bothered to learn about.

PS - and detracting stars because of the inclusion of Stella and Box? wha?

Enuf with the sniping. Just get confused and listen to the music play.

Lovely show.But, I think we should have ditched Vince and kept Bruce. Vince adds that weird circus sound that often sounds like he's farting through a Casio. He totally overpowers Hornsby, and everybody else for that matter. I find it hard to listen to.

The thing that I remember most from this show was the energy that Hornsby brought with him. We were all still stinging from Brent's loss and Hronsby on his grand piano really helped me have a great time. I had pretty good seats and could clearly see the interplay between Jerry and Bruce, it looked like Jerry was going to sing all of The Weight, but as he stepped up to the mike for the second verse he was a beat off and Bruce just took it. Jerry glared at him for a second, then got this huge smile and stepped back from the mike grinning like the Cheshire Cat. The tears are runing down my face just thinking about that moment.

Fall '90 may not be Spring '77 but they were a completely different band back then. At least we get Crazy Fingers in '90! None the less, there's some great energy in a lot of the fall '90 shows. Bird Song this night is special because it's Bruce Hornsbys first taste into the magic of Grateful Dead improv and he keeps up no prob. There's some great interviews with Hornsby talking about the dead mystique..he fit in great.

the buzz was that bruce hornsby was going to be sitting in and that seemed like a rather weird thing to most before stepping in the arena and hearing a great show - it had some good energy and the right combo of some new stuff that rocks (opening with touch of grey seemed a little poetic muse about another new keyboardist) and great oldies such as playing, uncle johns, NFA bird song; would give it five stars due to fact hornsby and the band had everyone leaving smiling that night after we all were wondering what this latest musical turn would bring.


But, the inclusion of stella blue and box of rain brang the show down a bit, so only four stars (all shows should be five stars since you were always allowed to leave for a while but I know some need to critique hence the stars system)

good show, only post Brent gimme some lovin. It's not the same without his B-3 and soulfulness, though

Great show.

Anyone know where I can get a downloadable version?

Thanks.

ralph.verrilli@vistagy.com

The sound on this show is awesome. really strong performance from the first notes of Touch. 5 star sound, 4+ star performance.....High 4 overall in my opinion.

wonder what it would sound like in my car? Ill never know.

The last solo by jerry during stella is so great please listen to it now.

Flew in from cali just to see Bruce's first night. No improv like in later shows, but the weight second set opener was nice. The only Gimme some love post brent and a long second set made for a nice start to bruce's stay with the dead.

For all of the great nights in this run, this one is often overlooked. But, the band is in fine form with Bruce's first night, and he belts it out during The Weight and adds the grand piano to Playin....it all sounds awesome to me. Energetic after space too with the rare post Brent Gimme Some Lovin. Saturday Night ends it up crackling. Great show.

this was NOT the first performance of the Dirty Gondola verse in Masterpiece as stated in the text. The Richfield show on 9/7 contains that verse as well, not sure if that was the first or not.